Multiple Choice

1. The study of learning in the 20th century was characterized by a major paradigm shift from:

a. cognitive science to social science.

b. behaviorism to social science.
c. cognitive science to information processing.
d. behaviorism to cognitive science.

2. One way to describe classical conditioning is:

a. stimulus reinforcement
b. stimulus conditioning
c. stimulus substitution
d. stimulus discrimination

3. Which of the sequences correctly describes Pavlovs classical conditioning during the
training phase? (UCS: unconditioned stimulus; UCR: unconditioned response; CS: conditioned
stimulus.)

a. UCS UCR CS
b. UCS CS UCR
c. CS UCS UCR
d. CS UCR UCS

4. Systematic desensitization is used to treat phobia patients. Which of the following is its
theoretical basis?

a. operant conditioning
b. classical conditioning
c. successive approximation
d. response facilitation

5. Which one of the following responses is most likely learned through classical conditioning?

a. being apprehensive around lizards

b. working out at the gym
c. responding to a verbal greeting
d. completing a forty-hour work week

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IMTB for Learning and Cognition

6. What best describes John Watsons position on the nature/nurture question:

a. radically hereditarian (belief that genes determine behavior)

b. radically situationalist (experience matters exclusively)
c. interactionist (personal tendencies and experience interplay)
d. nihilist (nothing can be said about the question)

7. A child becomes fearful of parades because every time a parade goes through his town, there are
loud cannons and gunshots at the end of the parade. A classical conditioning model could explain
this fear. In the model, the ____________ would be the conditioned stimulus and the
__________ would be the conditioned response.

a. Fearparade
b. loud gunshotsfear
c. paradeloud gunshots
d. paradefear

8. A misbehaving child is given time out. After several minutes of good behavior, the child is
then allowed to play with friends. Excusing the child from time out is an example of:

a. continuous reinforcement.
b. ratio-schedule reinforcement.
c. negative punishment.
d. negative reinforcement.

9. Imagine that you want to improve a distractible childs ability to sit still and listen in class.
Which one of the following procedures illustrates how you might start to use shaping to do so?

a. Explain the purpose of sitting quietly before reinforcement begins.

b. Reinforce the child for sitting still on some occasions, but not others.
c. Reinforce the child for sitting still and listening for only a minute, then for progressively
longer and longer periods of time.
d. Frequently change the specific consequence you use to reinforce sitting still and listening
behavior.

10. Skinners behaviorism lives! Which is not an example of behaviorisms continued influence
in education?

a. teaching higher order thinking

b. ignoring bad behavior
c. drawing smiley faces on students work
d. praising a student so that the student will repeat an action in the future

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11. The term reinforcement is most directly associated with:

a. information processing.
b. schema theory.
c. brain science.
d. behaviorism.

12. Which of the following is least compatible with Skinners theory of operant conditioning?

a. the Law of Effect

b. Watsons training of Little Albert to fear a rat
c. the Language Acquisition Device
d. the abandonment of the concept of freedom

13. Negative reinforcement has what effect?

a. It makes the behavior more likely to occur.

b. It makes the behavior less likely to occur.
c. It has no predictable effect on the recurrence of a behavior.
d. It increases the self-efficacy of the behaving organism.

14. Which of the following is a significant risk of behavior modification?

a. It can lead to punishment.

b. It can create anxiety.
c. It can decrease intrinsic motivation.
d. It can decrease self-efficacy.

15. Near the end of class, a teacher gives students free study time. Which example of the
students behavior during the study time and the teachers response to that behavior best
illustrates negative reinforcement?

a. The student studies. The teacher praises the student.

b. The student studies. The teacher says student doesnt have to do homework.
c. The student wastes time. The teacher gives the student homework.
d. The student wastes time. The teacher takes away free time from student.

16. The reinforcement schedule that will produce the most robust behavior is:

a. fixed interval
b. fixed ratio
c. variable interval
d. variable ratio

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17. What was it about Tolmans mice that seemed to be a challenge to behaviorist ideas?

a. When facing a T-juncture they always turned right.

b. The seemed to navigate the maze with a goal or purpose.
c. They exhibited decreased intrinsic motivation.
d. They acquired a phobia of Little Albert.

18. George has learned that if he pesters his father about using the car enough times, his father
will eventually break down and give George the keys. Georges pestering behavior is apparently
being reinforced on a ______ schedule.

a. differential rate of low responding

b. differential reinforcement of other behaviors
c. variable ratio
d. fixed interval

19. Operant conditioning is best able to explain which of the following psychopathologies?

a. phobias
b. depression
c. addictions
d. hallucinations

20. Thorndikes observations of a cat trying to escape a puzzle box led him to conclude that
learning is:

a. a rapid process that occurs in one trial.

b. a process that is influenced by the motivation of the organism.
c. a gradual process that occurs through trial and error.
d. a process that is unaffected by the consequences of behavior.

21. The major effect of Thorndikes research on the study of Latin was to cast into doubt:

a. the broad transferability of cognitive skills.

b. the genetic basis for measured intelligence.
c. the whole-language approach in the teaching of reading.
d. the situated quality of cognition.

22. Thorndikes Law of Effect is most like the ideas of:

a. Pavlov.
b. Skinner.
c. Bandura.
d. Simon.

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23. A behaviorist process of instruction involves identifying the goal of instruction and students
entry behavior, and then formulating substeps leading from the entry behavior to the terminal
behavior, with each substep representing a small modification of the preceding one. This process
is called:

a. generalization.
b. transfer.
c. higher-order conditioning.
d. shaping.

24. When training the dolphin to jump through a loop, the trainer starts at a height of one foot
above the water and increases the height one foot per week. Eventually the dolphin can jump
through a hoop ten feet above water. This is an illustration of:

a. deliberate practice.
b. trial-and-error.
c. shaping.
d. chaining.

25. Which of the following can be construed as evidence that behaviorism is not able to
account for all behavior?

a. the Language Acquisition Device

b. learning through imitation
c. the existence of goals
d. all of the above

Constructed Response

CR1. Explain, using a classical conditioning model, how a child could become fearful of riding a
school bus.

CR2. Describe two positive educational outcomes, one of which could arise from classical
conditioning, the other from operant conditioning.

CR3. You want to teach a child a new behavior pattern, and you are prepared to use rewards to
do so. At some point, however, you want to withdraw the rewards and have the behavior last as
long as possible. Whats the best strategy to accomplish these goals?

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IMTB for Learning and Cognition

CR4. Suppose you are teaching a class of six-graders. One of the students sitting in the back
seems not be able to sit still or pay attention to your instruction. He turns around to talk to his
neighbors, and passes notes to them. Using behaviorist principles, describe two approaches that
can you use to modify his behavior without inflicting punishment.

CR5. You want to teach Leon to catch a baseball. Describe how you might use "shaping" to
teach this skill. Specify: (a) an appropriate terminal behavior, (b) a reinforcer you might
reasonably use, and (c) the specific steps you would take during the shaping process.
 Chapter 2: Answer Key

1 D 14 C
2 C 15 B
3 C 16 D
4 B 17 B
5 C 18 C
6 B 19 C
7 D 20 C
8 D 21 A
9 C 22 B
10 A 23 D
11 D 24 D
12 C 25 D
13 A

CR1: 2 pts.: Response must identify an averse stimulus, e.g. yelling bus driver.
2 pts.: Naturally aversive stimulus must connect experientially with riding on the bus. 1
pt.: Overall quality of response. No reference to operant terms such as reinforcement.

CR2: 2 pts.: Positive emotional association with school context, books, etc. (classical)
2 pts.: Regular participation in expected behaviors, such as completing homework.
(operant)
1 pt.: Overall quality of response.

CR3: 3 pts.: Best to start with continuous reinforcement every time desired behavior occurs.
2 pts.: Then switch to variable ratio reinforcement, which follows desired behavior
randomly.

CR4: 2 pts.: One approach is to use positive reinforcement to encourage the repetition of
desirable behavior when it occurs.
2 pts.: Another approach is to use negative punishment, which would entail removing the
student from the rewarding context of fellow students (i.e., time out).
1 pt.: Overall quality of response.

CR5: 1 pt.: Catching a baseball skillfully (perhaps to some specified criterion)

1 pt.: Reinforcer could be praise, food, or any fitting reward.
3 pts: Steps should include a progression that is at first relatively undemanding. As Leon
acquires greater skill, the criterion required for reinforcement is steadily raised.